| Quality measure |
Details |
Score |
Comments |
| QA question 1 |
Are the research questions and inclusion criteria for the review clearly delineated? |
1 = “Yes” = Who (Population), What (Intervention, Comparator group, Outcome), Where and When described. |
general but concrete description of aims |
| QA question 2 |
Did the report of the review contain an explicit statement that the review methods were established prior to the conduct of the review and did the report justify any significant deviations from the protocol? |
1 = “Yes” = Who (Population), What (Intervention, Comparator group, Outcome), Where and When described. |
protocol mentioned in the methods section (3.1) |
| QA question 3 |
Did the review authors explain their selection of the study designs for inclusion in the review? |
0.5 = “Can’t answer / not sure / partially” =Cannot decide between “yes” and “no”, basing on the information provided in the paper. |
quantitative observational and experimental studies |
| QA question 4 |
Did the review authors use a comprehensive literature search strategy? |
1 = “Yes” = searched at least 2 databases (relevant to research question), provided key word and/or search strategy, justified publication restrictions (e.g. language), AND searched the reference lists / bibliographies of included studies, searched trial/study registries, included/consulted content experts in the field, where relevant, searched for grey literature, conducted search within 24 months of completion of the review. |
12 databases and 3 internet search engines |
| QA question 5 |
Did the review authors perform study selection in duplicate? |
0.5 = “Can’t answer / not sure / partially” = Cannot decide between “yes” and “no”, basing on the information provided in the paper. |
second reviewer assessed 25% of studies with moderate agreement |
| QA question 6 |
Did the review authors perform data extraction in duplicate? |
0 =”No” = only one reviewer involved in the study selection or no description how many reviewers participated in data extraction. |
No description how many reviewers participated |
| QA question 7 |
Did the review authors provide a list of excluded studies and justify the exclusions? |
1 = “Yes” = provided a list of all potentially relevant studies that were read in full-text form but excluded from the review AND justified the exclusion from the review of each potentially relevant study. |
Appendix L, M, O, Q |
| QA question 8 |
Did the review authors describe the included studies in adequate detail? |
1 = “Yes” = ALL the following: Who (Population), What (Intervention, Comparator group, Outcome), Where and When described in detail. |
Tables 2, 3, Appendix D-K |
| QA question 9 |
Did the review authors use a satisfactory technique for assessing the risk of bias (RoB) in individual studies that were included in the review? |
0 =”No” = no mention of RoB assessment of individual included studies. |
not provided |
| QA question 10 |
Did the review authors report on the sources of funding for the studies included in the review? |
0 =”No” = no report of the sources of funding for individual studies included in the review. |
not provided |
| QA question 11 |
If meta-analysis was performed did the review authors use appropriate methods for statistical combination of results? |
1 = “Yes” = The authors justified combining the data in a meta-analysis AND they used an appropriate technique to combine study results and adjusted for heterogeneity if present AND investigated the causes of any heterogeneity or adjusted for heterogeneity or confounding if present. |
random effects model |
| QA question 12 |
If meta-analysis was performed, did the review authors assess the potential impact of RoB in individual studies on the results of the meta-analysis or other evidence synthesis? |
0 =”No” = no assessment of the potential impact of RoB. |
not provided |
| QA question 13 |
Did the review authors account for RoB in individual studies when interpreting/ discussing the results of the review? |
0 =”No” = no discussion of the potential impact of RoB in individual studies. |
not provided |
| QA question 14 |
Did the review authors provide a satisfactory explanation for, and discussion of, any heterogeneity observed in the results of the review? |
1 = “Yes” = There was no significant heterogeneity in the results OR if heterogeneity was present the authors performed an investigation of sources of any heterogeneity in the results and discussed the impact of this on the results of the review. |
meta-regression and discussion |
| QA question 15 |
If they performed quantitative synthesis did the review authors carry out an adequate investigation of publication bias (small study bias) and discuss its likely impact on the results of the review? |
0.5 = “Can’t answer / not sure / partially” = more than one online source but no supplementary sources or one online source and one supplementary source. Cannot decide between “yes” and “no”, basing on the information provided in the paper. |
Egger’s test only |
| QA question 16 |
Did the review authors report any potential sources of conflict of interest, including any funding they received for conducting the review? |
1 = “Yes” = The authors reported no competing interests OR the authors described their funding sources and how they managed potential conflicts of interest. |
Funding sources disclosed in Section 8 |
| Quality index |
Overall rating (Quality Index) assigned to each SR, highlighting whether major concerns arose during quality assessment that may affect overall conclusions of a SR: A = Minimal flaws; B = Some flaws; C = Major flaws in many aspects of the review. |
B |
some details missing, some bias might be present |
| Suggested review type |
Actual review type:systematic map, systematic review, rapid review, scoping review, narrative review, etc. |
meta-analysis |
N/A |
| Risk of bias level |
How likely are the main conclusions of the review to be biased? Basing on review type and quality index and quality_index_comment assign: high moderate or low risk? |
medium |
bias not assessed for individual studies |